#backgrounds are probably easier on a tablet but i’ve been having fun drawing in my sketchbook

[eddieb-archive]

I’m trying to work on my backgrounds and environments more. It’s difficult! You think you know what the side of a building looks like until you try to draw it…

[asksoldieron]

SO-12: The Spirit of Harpo Marx

If there's a lot of engagement on this, this post is liable to get real long, beware before you expand.

Welcome to the Engagement Lounge, for Alight at the Window (SO-12) an instalment! Short comments can go in the replies, but there's a 475 character limit. Longer ones will need a reblog. Remember to @asksoldieron if you're reblogging someone else's reblog, so I can see it too!

Awwwwww, ya know? Awwwwww ❤️!

Poor Erik is in ⚡🔋no shape🔋⚡ to communicate, but he's doing his best. Maggie has no idea whether he's messing with her on purpose, or what's wrong with him, but she won't let him go. They'll get to him eventually. (I've just finished that part, actually. They've got him! Uh. Sorta. At least he's... safe now? 😅Oh, I can't say that with a straight face.)

This is the last of my queued posts/instalments, and I have no idea where my reading and drawing ability will be when it goes live. If I can't update you on my condition (and the condition of the next six instalments) I'll hafta have the spouse type a note for me. I want to do six more right away, or I might take a two week break, or - if I'm really struggling - it'll be a break of indeterminate length. I hope I'll be okay to just keep going, my Patrons have been so patient this year. Thanks, y'all.

But, either way, there will be a break at some point, because I'll have a while where I can't write or draw and that's going to eat up my backlog. Also, recent updates have done more stupid things to my theme and I think the site needs a redesign - maybe including some radical simplification. I'm just not mobile friendly and I can't make the current format behave. People with better eyesight than me do a lot of reading on their phones.

I have no idea how to build a community and I'm flailing, really, but maybe if I can get the interface more convenient, more people will like me? (I have no idea. Probably they won't.)

Look, though! You've got some extra art to tide you over! And a song!

I'm not in love with how Erik's design looks right now - he looks like a train wreck, but he should look like a train wreck. Nobody is going to fix his hair. I still feel self-conscious about it. He used to be cute. I've got to do a full-body rendering of how he'll clean up, but I don't have time for it now.

However, I did do a page of something trying to get comfortable with his ability to emote in train reck form. I don't have time to finish it, but I think it looks cool so I'm sharing.

This is potentially a way for me to serve you the music without lyric backgrounds that you can't read! It's very labour-intensive, but I was figuring out how to do it and it might get a little easier with practice. Also, my current tablet is struggling with the resolution and I plan to update it by the end of the year - depending on sale prices.

After I saw Hedwig and the Angry Inch, I found out the original Off-Broadway incarnation had filked music with lyrics by John Cameron Mitchell. 🥹😊I'm calling it! This is something other people sharing my identity do to tell their stories! Filk musicals are an enby thing! We do not give a shit about the music industry's copyrights! I'm performing nonbinary correctly!

So here's the lyrics again, and maybe I'll give you the rest in comic form as my vision and my tools improve.

You Are Found! (based on "We Are Young" by fun.) I need a minute, I… I don’t know if I’m ready yet I’m tryin’ to get my shit together, Maggie, please don’t be upset My family must be looking for me somewhere very near Guess I knew you must be coming but I can’t believe you’re here, and… It’s been forever since I’ve seen your face I know you want to take me home But although it hurts to do this work they need my help for what it’s worth —  Oh, gods I’m not sure if I wanna go So maybe if, next time you see me, You can take me by the hand, You’ll steal me away At last I am found So I guess the party’s over Time to get sober, and come down At last I am found So I guess the party’s over Time to get sober, and come down No, I wanna go home I’m just not done I guess that I, I just hoped We could visit and I’d get right back to work But I can’t go yet So I must forget 'Cause I think you’ll hafta steal me away At last I am found So I guess the party’s over Time to get sober, and come down At last I am found So I guess the party’s over Time to get sober, and come down Steal me away at last (na na na na na na) Come steal me away at last (na na na na na na) Steal me away at last (na na na na na na) Come steal me away at last (na na na na na na) The gods have their own plan (na na na na na na) But I’m just one weary man (na na na na na na) So you're gonna hafta steal me away at last (na na na na na na) I have so much to do (na na na na na na) How can I go with you? (na na na na na na) So you're gonna hafta steal me away (na na na na na na) At last I am found So I guess the party’s over Time to get sober, and come down At last I am found So I guess the party’s over Time to get sober, and come down So maybe if, next time you see me, You can take me by the hand You’ll steal me away at last

See you soon! Ha, I hope!

Late edit: Two week break, folks. No drawing ability yet, so we're stuck with it. I still hope to get you the next six by the end of the year. I'll keep you posted!

[Back to Site?]

[mrfutureboy]

I would like to know when you started drawing and where your passion for fanart started 😊

Oh FUCK dude i did not see this i’m so fucking sorry this is so late 😭 damn you, tumblr, for not fucking notifying me!! Anyway buckle up this is gonna be much longer than you asked for <3

Honestly ive kinda been drawing all my life! I hope that doesnt sound dumb cuz obviously almost everyone drew pictures when they were kids, but i know that it’s been a consistent hobby for me since i was little. By the time i was in 3rd grade I was hoarding notebooks to draw in. Cuz that’s something fun about me: i had a real huge habit of drawing in things that werent sketchbooks. Through middle school and beyond I did buy/receive sketchbooks, but I started out with various kinds of notebooks. One I had from like 2nd grade was like a hardcover, stationary-type notebook that I drew cats in lol, and I have 2 velvet lisa frank notebooks from 3rd grade. In high school and college I had a really bad habit of drawing in the margins on my notes and on handouts the teacher/professor would give. Those classes where the prof just prints out all the notes beforehand and gives them to you to follow along? Oh man, I spent so many classes barely listening while I drew on them! I also used to draw on my physics homework and tests and sometimes I even got extra credit for them (thank you jeff :D). I actually have a folder of various drawings I’ve kept from that 8yr time period and a lot of them are on classwork 😂

Obviously, I’ve been doing a lot of digital art lately, which I’m sure is what u were more curious about rather than the shit about drawing on my homework. I got a surface pro as a graduation gift in 2016 bc prior to that i had a wacom tablet and a janky ass laptop, so the gift was kinda a 2-in-1: i can do schoolwork AND art easily! i like digital art a lot and honestly im still learning new things abt it every time i draw. I use Leonardo currently (i’ll skip that story) but I started out doing digital art on sketchfu WITHOUT the wacom tablet in maaaaybe 2012??? 2011??? does anyone on this site remember sketchfu? Honestly couldnt even tell u how i found that site hahah the internet was just full of wonders back in the day. RIP sketchfu. Once i got the tablet tho some time later i used sketchfu still (i think) but also gimp and krita i believe.

Oh i suppose I should mention that i took art all four years of highschool and also minored in it in college! So it’s something i did academically as well as for fun. I keep thinking about going to art school for realsies but idk. I’m already $$$ in debt from my first degree i dont feel like adding to that 😅😓

Ok now for the second part of your question: I’ve also pretty much always done fan art! Ive never really been one for OC’s, EXCEPT for the self-insert superhero double life “comics” i wrote about a poodle named Sassy when i was in third grade. And then the knock off “comics” i wrote at a later time which honestly it was weird that i did a knock off of my own thing rather than just adding them to the original or making it a spin off with at least one of the og characters. Cuz it wasnt a spin off!! But anyway there wasnt really much to any of these characters; i just needed vessels to get my weird ideas out.

So anyway yeah most of what ive ever drawn has been fan art or self portraits, because its just easier for me to take characters that already exist and bend them to my will (artistically). Well excluding art assignments in school i guess because i would usually have to draw something specific and therefore not something self indulgent. But yeah ive drawn for lots of fandoms like the earliest i remember is warrior cats. Then theres things like pokemon and warriors and random other books i read thru middle school (i used to read a LOT but now im practically illiterate); spn, sherlock, and marvel through high school; and then marvel and bttf thru the end of hs and beyond. Idk i also have always loved looking at other peoples fan art and so im like “shit i wanna do that too!”. Tho i will say marvel was my biggest fandom and the one i had the longest interest in, so that was probably where the passion REALLY came from cuz I was drawing marvel stuff for such a long time (tho not posting shdjsk u have to trust me), but ive been doing fan art forever :)

(Of course, a lot of the fan art i was making prior to recently was drawn in lined notebooks or on homework sheets or what have you, and I wasn’t posting really any of it, but i was still making it and a good chunk of it still exists. Oh i should also mention most of it was with pencils or ballpoint pens like i wasnt doing anything too fancy. There was some digital art in the highschool-college time frame but it also really wasnt…much. Honestly i barely posted any of it here but I know some of it’s on deviantart)

I cant pinpoint the exact time I started getting more “serious” about my art in general, but i know the first pandemic lockdown gave me more free time and i was less stressed about schoolwork so i just kinda had a good outlet. (Tho i will say that prior, I had been in a life drawing club for a short while, and i had also been working on a personal sketchbook project that had me pretty ~inspired~ to do art. Also i watched twin peaks around this time and it inspired a lot of Feelings and i was making funky collages and other art pieced that were sometimes related to that. Some of those are on deviantart)

Honestly I think the Big thing with my digital art was coincidentally getting back into BTTF the summer of the 35th anniversary bc the fandom here was THRIVING and i was like “oh shit wait i want to contribute!” But as i kept drawing i kept wanting to improve and that leads us to right now where im constantly trying new things (whether subtle or obvious) and challenging myself to do full body drawings with different poses, and doing screencap redraws and what have you for various reasons (backgrounds, proportions, pose, etc)

So yeah :) Basically I’ve been doing fan art forever (I didnt even get into all the mediums ive tried but that’s another conversation bc this is already so long and convoluted) and it’s kinda coincidental that ive suddenly really gotten back into it and have improved dramatically in such a short time. Thank you so much @rovermcfly for the ask and again im really sorry you had to wait so long for a response! Stupid tumblr

[kaleidiope]

September Project updation post in October because, well, i’m silly

This post I’ll mainly talk about my plan for my stories, and the things that’ve changed along with my plans for them and such. This was suppose to be in September but, I procrastinated, so yeah!  And, a ‘keep reading’ line to keep things tidy looking! Also, I actually had this as a draft, but forgot about it! Also, also, please don’t mind all the spelling errors that i’m sure is in here, this is quite long, and i’m so sorry for all of that!

You all know the drill, this is an update for the story I've been working on. It was made in roughly February of 2019. Or at least, that’s when I got the idea for it. I’ve been working on it seriously since September of 2019. So, for about a year. On this blog you can find a good bit of random things about it, including drawings. A lot of the drawings I've done I never posted, maybe one day, probably never, but still! A lot of this Blog has actually been WIPS of my story. And, since those past updates, story pitches and such, a few things have changed, and that's what this is about!

First, for those who don’t know, I feel in love with One shot, Deiland, Moonlighter, Borderlands, and a few other games. Mainly One shot for it’s vibe, it’s feel. I loved it, maybe too much? And, really wanted to make something like it. I don’t see that atmosphere much, personally. On Music box maniacs, a lovely site, I was given the idea to make a melody for a character. And that’s how Umber came along. Over time, I kind of made Umber, and left her. Started trying to get into digital art, but without a tablet I tried to create a character that would be easy to free hand with a mouse. Which became Pax. Over time, I feel in love with Pax’s design. I drew him a lot, he was my first, and only OC. I’ve drawn random people and thing’s before, but he had a name. An age. And soon, a back story. He was set in a different world than Umber’s. Which, at this time, is almost abandoned. He was a potion seller’s child who only wanted to go on the adventure’s the customers where experiencing. And one day, he’d face a dragon, and possibly his fate. But that was scraped because each time I drew him, more and more, the backgrounds reminded me of Umber’s story. So, he became a child in her story and his was abandoned.  Umber was suppose to be a child traveling with no family trying to get awareness of her light to others. And once meeting Pax in another shop, he agreed to help her. So, you could say, Pax was Moonlighter based, and Umber was One shot based. The idea that her light was a bad thing and there were ‘”bad people” didn’t come until later. Though, Crimson was suppose to be a bully type of person who mocked, and even at times, almost hurt Umber. Because also, at this time, everyone was children. Once it was thought over for awhile then did we get the story line we have now. Umber was an inventor in a world suffering a seeming eternal eclipse. which was ruled by a corporation that was money hungry and didn’t care for the greater good. The world had glowing bugs that somehow emit a good amount of light, and through time and a lot messing and discovery, oddly power? Which is what the corporation sells, Starworm lights, and “batteries” of a sort. The bugs also allow some things to grow, but with them being harvested as much as they are, the corporation is killing the world. But, that won’t be their problem, they’ll be dead by the time it’s an issue. Now, we have a lot of characters and general world building stuff, along with the flora and fauna and how things work. So, let’s begin! (Yes, this is going to be a long post. I’m so sorry!) But, I have since changed a few things, which I will now state. I was pretty heck bent on giving them ages, but, I don’t wish for them to have any, anymore. This is not earth. It’s a planet without a sun. Keeping track of time is easier than days, let alone years. So for many, it’s just a toss up on how long they’ve lived for. Just a mere, rough, idea. I wanted ages for personality comparisons and height ideas for when I draw them. Which, was never my idea at first. This was just for OC’s to draw, yes, but then it became a story for them, along with for my own enjoyment and somehow it became more than that. Which, I oddly love. But, ages were more for an even sillier reason I've since abandoned as well, and I think the story’s better off now since then. Also, they were all children at a time. Adults wouldn’t even have names or faces, All adults were originally suppose to get full face masks. Instead of half masks. But Indigo ruined that, and after that, some of the characters were being made older. To fit with the personalities, for say, Talos. He was also a child, who I didn’t feel being a child would fit the character and mainly, their job in the story as a whole. So yes. The story itself wasn’t the main idea. Having OC’s to draw were. But I was given a lot of support on MBM with my story pitches, also, I enjoyed making them. So I continued. And I really enjoy this. World building has been the hardest, trying to make things make sense, like the eclipse lasting years. And the fact a moon bigger and that much closer to the planet would most likely make the planet itself, the planet’s moon, and the moon, the planet. And how is life still possible, along with, isn’t it cold? And to that, yes, yes, yes, and maybe XD Mainly, this is fantasy, yes, I do want it to make sense, yes, this isn’t earth. The people’s races aren’t our races, calling them human might just be an insult to them. I mean, they don’t even have pupils. (Thanks, odd drawing style.) So, my answer to a lot of this is, it’s not earth. This is fantasy. I’m doing this for fun. And I’ve done a lot research for something that was never suppose to be as much of a thing as it is, but i’m having too much fun to stop now. And with that as well, yes, a lot of my characters are suppose to have a deeper skin color. Talos, Mauve, Indigo, and so on, are suppose to have a more deep olive color. But, at the time of drawing a lot of them, I didn’t have the faith to execute other skin tones correctly. So I just didn’t. Just like drawing illustrations for my story. I didn’t think I would because I didn’t think I could, but i’m now willing to try. So, here is where we stand so far! I want my characters to have a rough age, but it could be depicted to give of take about three years. I’ve said I wanted Pax to be about 11, but I also see him to act older for his age and such. The idea of him being any younger seems odd, but if you wanted to give him a 9-15 age for an example, that’s more than cool. That goes for all my characters. I want a lot of my characters to look like their own character, i’m working very hard with redraws to make sure there’s noticeable differences with their noses and eye shapes and such.  I want different skin colors and face shapes and so on, but the idea of different races on such a small planet and even the idea of tanned skin in a world without the sun to give one a tan seems odd to me? But there will be differences, because I always wanted there to be. This story will indeed cover some heavy topics. Including but not limited to, alcohol, death, suicide, murder, mental and physical disorders and illnesses, such as DID, alzheimer’s, dementia, memory issues, abandonment, and a form of racism. All things are not straight out talked about or referenced, but lightly implied.  I took inspiration from a lot of things. (including places, animals, other stories and people) And I will not refer to any of it within my story, such as DID. There is already too much falseness and other wrong info on that and other things. I do not trust myself to paint it in a good light, nor a correct light. And will re-frame from actually stating a character has an identity disorder. The idea this world knows of DID and would use the same word is also something I question. But the characters disorder is based on DID. (Also, it’s Tobias.) The idea of genders is something that’s a toss up. I’ve never said anything of the sort and would rather not say anything. The idea that they have genders or sexuality is just something I don’t really want to think about and is rarely mentioned. The idea of love and such is mentioned, purely more for a joke/bit. But still I don’t wish to think of my characters with genders or those parts no matter what I refer to them as. Not mention these characters still aren’t human. I do use She/he/they pronouns for my characters and as of now have used phases like, “That guy” But, it’s become a personal running joke I want to make clear at the start of my story that it was translated and adapted to fit this worlds standers of word form. There are roughly 25 characters as of now, only five main characters, or should I say, five characters that get there point of view expressed. And about six support characters, and the rest are minor support characters. Some of these characters are only mentioned, or referenced, as an attempt to build the world. Questions are always open, and this story is undergoing many changes and constant consideration. As I learn, grow and improve my skills.  I have no hope or want for this to get big or anything of the sort. this is for fun. 100%. If it looks like I talk about this a lot, but never have anything to show for it, it’s because I want it to be perfect or close to it before I show anything. Which will be never, because I can never make perfect. I’m just trying to do the best I can and am pushing the limits of my skills to get there.  I should note, I am fine, I’m not “Pushing” myself. Which is why it’s taking the time it is.  I am really working on character personalities and keeping them coherent and sane along with the same. And talking about all this helps with that. As for now, I know what I want to do, and where I want my story to go, i’m just figuring out how to execute it best.  I’m more skilled in writing where I describe things, mainly emotions and the scene it’self. Along with script writing. I’m not skilled with writing conversations which is a large part of my story. Same with drawing backgrounds or anything that isn’t people. So my story so far reads a lot like a script due to how the conversations are laid out and due to how I describe how each thing is done. This is something I want to get a bit away from because it was purely so I wouldn’t get lost and confused with who was talking and the emotion/feel of each scene.  That’s because I have the attention span and instruction following skills of a carrot. I use my characters names far too many times along with a lot of other things I use for self help clarity which I hope to fix by the end. I do think it’d be cool to start dropping parts of the story and other things of what I have done, with the note that it could change. I feel it’d be fun, but i’m very hesitant to do so.  I do wish to make character bios and such for them all at some point and just have a post that lays down what has been decided so if anyone wants they can follow along with the process. But, that’s all a toss up as of now. Thank-you for reading, and for your time, I hope you have an amazing day! And I dearly apologize for this length! 

[scandalsavagefanfic]

Scandal! For the 40 questions meme: 7, 20, and 23 if you please 😘😘😘

7.  Share a snippet from one of your favorite pieces of prose you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it. 

This was very hard. All my favorite writing is the angstiest stuff I’ve done so I just went and reread a bunch of stuff that made me cry 😂

And then it was still hard to narrow down because I different things for different reasons. Therapy, Requiem, and Matter of Life and Death are probably my actual best pieces of writing.

But I’m going to mention the opening of Batman Doesn’t Smile. Featuring an extremely rare pair of two smaller characters (Duke Thomas and Luke Fox) and with a whopping 300-something hits, don’t feel bad if you haven’t heard of it (the general you, not you specifically, stevie 😉).

It’s a fun PWP idea and not really my best writing but I’m proud of the opening because I was so anxious about it that I was physically sick and almost took it out, just to be safe.

I read this excerpt easily 30 times before I posted the fic. I read it so many times that the words stopped making sense. 

Because the premise is that Duke has recently taken over as Batman. And Batman’s cowl shows half his face. And I couldn’t find any way around the fact that Gotham’s criminals (and even really anyone in Gotham used to seeing Bruce) wouldn’t make comments on how Duke “wasn’t the real Batman” because of the very obvious difference in skin tone.

And just to be clear, this is just Duke teasing a criminal for commenting, for saying he obviously wasn’t the real Batman. We’re not talking about groundbreaking, earth-shattering, or edgy insights here. 

But here I am, super duper white, writing about Duke and Luke (god it’s so unfortunate that their names rhyme) and specifically calling attention to their skin color, desperately trying to make sure I’m not accidentally insensitive or rude or anything. 

So, I almost deleted it, just to be safe, just because it was easier. Almost tried to come up with a different beginning so I wouldn’t have to address it at all. 

But ultimately that felt... wrong and after reading it a million times I decided that it was more important to keep it. I knew I have a few extremely supportive followers who are POC and would let me know if I stepped out of line. Which... looking back, rereading this now with more experience... it was probably a lot smaller risk than it felt at the time. 

Anywho. Now that I’ve over explained...

Batman Doesn’t Smile, excerpt - 

“Why would you say I’m not the real Batman? I mean, what gave you that impression? I knocked your buddies out in under twenty seconds, in the dark, with batarangs and fists. That’s pretty Batman-y.”

Three of the would-be kidnappers lie strewn across the expansive office while the two still standing, freshly disarmed and no longer a threat, exchange sheepish glances and stumble over a weak explanation of “you’re too chatty” muttered under their breath.

Luke snickers louder from behind his big, modern glass desk. He hadn’t even bothered to move, didn’t even pretend to be a frightened CEO and fake-cower in the corner. He just sat back in the ergonomically perfect chair he had designed and watched the show.

Even when the lights conveniently went out, Duke is pretty sure Luke managed to see everything.

“Are you sure?” Duke asks with obviously false sincerity, “I didn’t say anything until the end when I told you to drop your weapons. I’ve got the symbol, the tech, the moves. Maybe my cowl is the wrong shape?”

He can’t help the amused smile that tugs up on his lips as the crooks turn red when he purposefully draws their attention to the only spot where his skin is exposed, and their gazes quickly drop to the floor. Since officially accepting the mantle Batman from Bruce a few months ago, he’s had a lot of fun at the expense of Gotham’s criminal element when they can’t resist commenting.

“Just cuff us, man,” one of them finally huffs.

There’s a snort of laughter from the other side of the office while Duke takes out the handcuffs and starts restraining the kidnappers, the buzz on his belt letting him know the police are on their way up.

“I’m just screwing with you guys,” he says playfully, “I know it’s because of my dazzling smile.”

This time it’s one of the crooks who gives an amused snort just as the police make their entrance.

20.  Describe your perfect writing conditions.

A comfy seat, a laptop (I’ve been less productive since I replaced my laptop with a tablet and have to choose between that and my desk), music for background noise, someone has locked me out of all social media, including Discord, and they’ve graciously cleaned my house so I don’t have to. Plenty of snacks, mostly like fruit and crackers but some chocolate as well. And a thermos of coffee that refills itself.

But seriously, my house when it’s clean and I have a laptop so I can sit on the couch with my dogs is the perfect place to write when I can just get myself to zone in and not let things distract me.

23.  If you were to revise one of your older fics from start to finish, which would it be and why?

Ummmmmmmmmmmm..... Maybe Finders Keepers? Because I really like the idea and, even though I just reread it a couple days ago and it wasn’t as bad as I remembered, I still think it could use some work.

Not a revision, because I love Therapy the way it is, but I am planning on rewriting it for a Gen audience. Just because I feel like there are a lot of valid points in the fic that are inaccessible to people who don’t want to read BruJay.

[decimadragonoid]

Some Musts for Artists!

As I'm typing this, it is currently midnight on April 12th during the coronavirus pandemic. We're all artists here, so let's go over a few things that we can do as like-minded people. I've been on Deviantart for nearly 6 years now. I recently started a Tumblr and a Ko-Fi to make this a fun side job. Expanding my art network and social media outlets was the name of the game throughout the years, but I thought I'd create a small journal entry or a manual somewhere midway through the process for current and newcoming artists. So, here are some tips and musts for artists that all of you can use! 1.) Practice as often as you can. - This step is pretty self-explanatory. After all, practice makes perfect. You might even unlock hidden potentials that you never thought you had before. Even if you don't feel comfortable using certain tools (e.g., the perspective ruler, mannequins, outlines), making use of them will become much easier if you ease your way into using them. For example, I've always had trouble making backgrounds while using the perspective ruler synchronously, but over time, I eased my way into using it for making settings. Now I use the perspective rulers when I'm trying to capture the essence of a room or an area outdoors. It may be hard to create characters, props, and backgrounds at first, but once you find methods you're best comfortable with, stick with your guns and flesh out your masterpieces with your own unique styles! - I also use thicker sketch lines to make characters and poses just right to accommodate my nearsightedness. I call this technique 'The XL Method.' 2.) Study and Observe from Others. - If you have a favorite show, artist, or animator you like to watch, observe how they flesh out their characters, backgrounds, settings, and stories. Using any of the listed in the last sentence as reference material is a good way to analyze the big picture and make it your own. Of course, you must remember that you're not doing this to mimic your favorite artist, but rather referring to them as a template of sorts. Don't try to stay as someone else's shadow. Your art style is created through your body and soul, not by emulating your idol. 3.) Take care of yourself. - This is probably the most important thing you must NEVER neglect as an artist and overall person. If you can't draw yet due to other responsibilities outside of being an artist, don't try to force yourself afterwards. I've personally seen artists get hounded with questions and comments like 'When's your next page coming out?', 'Finish this project up already!', and even 'I only came here for Undertale. It's the only thing that gives me life. If you stop making Undertale comics and cancel your series, I'm not gonna watch you anymore.' Every artist I follow has been pressured more than once, especially in the Undertale fandom, when they actually put a project on hold, had a desire to draw something else for a while and try new things to take a break, or had other responsibilities outside the digital realm that followers neglect to understand or just don't care about because they're so anxious to see what happens next in a story they like. With followers, some are patient and respect that the artist has other responsibilities and hobbies they'd like to attend to, and others feel like they're entitled to the next page, when really, they're not. This isn't prominent in just the Undertale fandom, but also in many others - so many in fact, that it's a hassle just to list them all. - It's important to balance your lifestyle with things you like to do. If you like to draw, by all means, do it. If you like to read, by all means, do it. If you like to hang out with friends, by all means, do it. If you like to play video games, by all means, do it. If you have to take care of yourself and put your health over everything else first, do it. Do NOT compromise! When it comes to your health and lifestyle, unless it's beneficial to you, nobody else's input matters. Your followers won't get mad at you for it, and the followers undergoing the stages of entitlement will have to shut the hell up and take a hint. You're your own person, not someone else's servant. 4.) Eat! Eat! EAAAAAAAAAAAATTT!!! - Whether it's your favorite food or something jam-packed with nutritious value, eat all the food you want to eat! No artist can operate on an empty stomach. Keep your metabolism going and grab a snack, breakfast, lunch, or dinner. You want an example? Eat popcorn or sushi. Popcorn is high in fiber and helps keep your blood sugar in check as long as you don't drench it in too much butter. I also recommended sushi in this tab too. The reason is because sushi and other types of fish are high in DHA content, which stimulates brain activity and keeps your creative juices flowing. - There are other snacks that can help you stay motivated and full. Yogurt prevents diseases and enhances digestive and weight control. Bananas are high in potassium and help maintain a healthy heart. Chips and hummus go together too! Not only is hummus a good dip filled with fiber and protein, it's also filled with antioxidants! - I can go on and on about what kind of foods you can eat as an artist, but there are too many to list! I just love food THIS much! You'll be sitting here reading this tab all day if I did, so I'll leave the examples in the previous paragraphs for you. Whether it's a snack food, breakfast, lunch, or dinner, feed your body and mind, and you'll definitely make it as an artist! 5.) If you're a comic artist making an original story or building up from someone else's idea with a fanmade comic of your own, achieve total secrecy and wow your viewers later! - Yeah, I know it's great you've finished a comic page to show to your followers, and it has them craving for more. But sometimes, someone else's desire for more pages might be a little too much. Whether you're a regular artist or a comic/fancomic artist, not only is it important to balance your lifestyle, manage your time, and decide when you want to draw an art piece or the next page to your story, but it's also important to limit the amount of desire and demand you take in. - If you don't mind giving your fans spoilers, then that's okay too. But sometimes, achieving complete radio silence and being exclusive helps you get the most work done. - For example, a clothes designer named Geoffrey B. Small utilized a marketing strategy in which he made his clothing line limited and exclusive to shoppers. He doesn't want you to find his clothing. Even more so, he's not interested in being available to everybody. This makes his clothing unique and valuable to the eye of the beholder. If his clothes were found by literally everyone, it would disappoint him and jeopardize the overall exclusivity and value of his products. If your someone who doesn't want anyone to know that you're working on an art piece or a batch of comic pages that's gonna gobsmack your fans, pull a Geoffrey B. Small-esque move and don't leak any info whatsoever. - But IF you must inform your fans your project is still up and running, leave a subtle hint or a W.I.P thumbnail behind. That'll suffice. Keep your fans guessing, even if it means making them succumb to their anxiety or neediness for updates. - Limit any questions or comments you want to take in until you feel ready to reveal your big guns. You decide when you'll work on your art on your OWN terms. 6.) Allow yourself to imagine and enjoy your creative mind going wild before fleshing it out on your tablet or on paper. - Creativity is what makes literally anything in the world come to life! That's how we have the technology, video games, buildings, and other necessities in our generation today. For us artists, our most creative tool is the brain. The brain is the center of all human activity and thought. It's what allows us to imagine what happens next in our stories before we physically flesh them out on our drawing tablets or on paper. I always use my brain to generate a thought in my head that's so powerful, when I close my eyes or flesh it out every second, I can see a glimpse of it playing in my head like a roll of film filled to the brim with moving images for a movie. - It's also beneficial to write out a script, and even pretend you're a character in the story you want to create. - Flesh out your thoughts, play the track over and over again, add more thoughts, put a few funny moments into the mix, and BAM!! You've got an idea! Of course, you must also understand that unless the thought is something long-term you want to remember, you might forget some parts of your idea at first. Some ideas might be some you'll totally dislike later, and that's okay. There's always room for re-imagination and improvement. - Also take to heart that you shouldn't let your creative thoughts take over your real-life responsibilities. Those come first! - Overall, it's important to imagine and have fun going wild before physically bringing your thoughts into being. Let the creativity flow naturally. 7.) Understand you're not perfect, and neither are others. - In the wise words of Mayuri Kurotsuchi from BLEACH, 'Nothing perfect exists.' - 'If something is truly perfect, that's it. The bottom line becomes, there is no room for imagination, no space for intelligence, or ability, or improvement.' - 'Perfection is a dead end, a condition of hopelessness. Always strive to become better than everyone who came before you, but not perfect.' - You need to understand no artist or average working person in the world is perfect. Nobody is better or worse than anyone else. If you start to develop an egotistical sense of perfectionism, stop. You're not Picasso or Van Gogh. You're not better than anyone else. Neither am I. Everyone has their own ways of creating things or getting through the harsh reality of the real world. - The only thing we are is a small part of a bigger picture. We're all here to fill the gaps that plague the digital realm and society as it is today. 8.) Enjoy every minute. - The last thing an artist, viewer, average kid, and/or working adult needs to know is that if you enjoy doing something, it's worth enjoying all the way no matter what anybody else says. Have a good time. Don't let anyone take your modes of enjoyment away from you. Because at the end of the day, everything that lives is designed to end. We don't know when the time will come where we won't or can't enjoy what we love to do today anymore. So take your life and hobbies, make them the most enjoyable and memorable moments of your life, and never let them go! As an artist and overall human being, I care about my own well-being. Hell, I even care about the well-being of strangers and passersby on Deviantart, Tumblr, Ko-Fi, and real life. As such, I feel it's important to share my words of wisdom so you can read, listen, and make them your own. So remember to not only enjoy art or any other hobby or career you wish to pursue, but to never stop growing. The growth and development of the normal human being is a neverending journey, and it's one worth living well. Thank you for reading, and take care of yourselves. Stay determined, where and whoever you are... See you soon... Your friendly stranger and creative thinker, DecimaDragonoid

[marcarella-pizza]

Colouring/ Shading/ Lighting for Digital art

HI! Hello~ I’m here and I have a teeny tiny tutorial for you today (courtesy of dear Melito who actually wants my help??? I’m??? Blessed??? I realise that there’s a lot of you who have no clue who the fuck this person I’m referring to is, oh well, not my problem — ur missing out on hella great cake.)

So I have a timelapse of everything (below, duh, in case you can’t scroll) and I’m also gonna make comments on it cus ya know, these vids are only a minute long and thirty fucking megabytes like Jesus Christ.

So without further ado-do!

Should I have added music? Probably??? Ehhh the deathly silence can comfort you. (Wow what a mood.)

The Run Down:

Is rundown one word or two??

When colouring, I break it up into three main steps: base, line and “Hiding All My Fuck Ups”

(First) Base

I’ve never made it to first base... or any base

When colouring, use a non translucent brush to colour in everything. As in, so it’s completely solid??? Where’s my English today?

For every different colour, put it on another layer! I tend to do the skin colour first. You can go over lines that will be covered with another colour... did that make sense?

That’s it, I just felt the need to have three steps at least.

Line

As in... line art.

What I do is I lock my layer — that means when I try to add colour, colour will only be applied to the area that’s been drawn on.

I usually colour pick the colour I used for the base, and the line looks very pale when done (I do this with a non translucent brush too)

I then adjust the layer with lineart so the colour looks darker and more saturated. For my program (Medibang) I go Filter > Hue > Max out the saturation and lower the brightness > save. Sometimes I may do it again if it’s not dark enough.

If you can’t edit the colour then there’s another way! Duplicate your lineart > select the layer on top > change blending/ layer type to “Multiply” (it multiples the colour... duh)

If THAT doesn’t work I have one last suggestion before I sadly admit idk — duplicate line art > select top layer > colour the entire think a dark colour or black > lower the opacity

Line art done! (This time I wanted six steps — 6 is my fav number)

“Hiding All My Fuck Ups”

I rely on this too much okay?

I can actually further split this into two; shading and “I’m Kidding Myself” — let’s begin!

Shading

To shade, I work from bottom layer up!

What you’re gonna do, is select your bottom colour, (or any really but ORDER HELPS) and lock the layer.

Why? That way it’s easier to colour without going over the lines! (Your building on the foundation you set essentially)

With a semi translucent brush (FYI, translucent brushes are thinks like “blur” or “smudge” that purely affect what’s there and do not add anything) I use the watercolour brush set at 15-20% opacity.

I’ll eyedrop the base colour that I’m shading, and with the colour wheel, tru and find a darker version of that. NOTE: when looking for a darker colour, I don’t go to the black, I try and find a more saturated colour OR a darker HUE — black is a curse, I don’t ever use pure black or pure white — give your work the colour it deserves UwU

With the watercolour brush, I literally run the darker colour over all lines that indicate a shade (imagine a light somewhere and what that light touches is what you mainly focus on)

For clothes, I follow the creases I’ve drawn

For hair, I tru to imagine the hair in three main shapes and run the colour over the perimeters of those

Then it’s time to blend! I usually just eye drop the base colour again for this, and trace (lightly, our tablets have pressure sensitivity — same going for steps 1-8) the line that divides the light from the dark, adding a middle ground since the watercolour brush is only semi transparent.

For adding blush to skin: create new layer above skin layer > set to multiply, again, if you can’t do this then you follow same steps as before with line art) > using an Airbrush like brush (soft, no sharp edges, kind blurred), colour the skin areas that need blush.

Skin areas that need blush; areas with LOTS of blood vessels (head... the OTHER head...) areas with thinner skin (elbows, knuckles, knees)

If your skin layer was on the bottom, your blush will only appear on top of the skin and not the other layers!

Just be careful about the areas outside the drawing — you may need to do some tiny erasing

Finally, merge all the colours together. Sometimes different layer types don’t like to merge together without screwing up your other layers, to avoid simply merge them one at a time from bottom up.

As in, second last one and last one merged together, then the one above that merged with the last one — merge everything with the last one... AM I MAKING SENSE?!

I’ll usually merge the lineart with the colour too — I just didn’t here for some reason

“I’m Kidding Myself”

Here we add stuff that hides flaws and merges the character with a background if you have one!

I use three types of layers for this, if your program doesn’t use these then see if they have similar functioning ones (I’m always experimenting so this isn’t set in stone) if your program has nothing then... this will be a little harder, you’re gonna have to do this by hand somehow.

I use these kinds of blending layers; Multiply, Overlay and Add

First I prevent getting the colour on anything BUT the character; magic wand tool > select the empty space > hold ctrl/shift and keep tapping to add or remove areas > invert if you need in order for the art piece to be selected

You can see this when my background when blue, I’m basically highlighting my art of Yuri

Colour this entire space on a new layer. The colour I use doesn’t change here on out (except in the video I do cus I lose the colour but that’s aside the point). When choosing a colour, consider the colour of light — I use human colours??? Colours you find on a person essentially.

As a general rule of thumb; for every new thing, new layer, it gets a little harder here. I also use a semi translucent (watercolour) brush again for everything!

Now we have a silhouette of Yuri — I set this to multiply, it’s essentially like a highlighter marker pen but darker?? This is so that I may adjust the entire colour to fit the lighting colour

New layer (NL), I set to Overlay. Overlay is like multiply except bright! Remember what I did when shading? Yep, rinse and repeat! Afterwards, adjust the layer’s opacity setting so that it fits better with the image.

I’ll also make the brush really tiny and go over hey areas to highlight such as the edge of the nose, chin and jaw — I’ll also add shine to the eyes.

NL, set to Add. I only ever use this layer if I want to achieve “blinding lights” sort of looks. So when the lighting is immense, I have a white background, or the background is incredibly bright.

I use add layer scarcely, to blemish any lines and make it look more refined. I’ll also adjust opacity if need be.

NL, I’ll use the airbrush set too REALLY BIG (1000 usually) and if I have a background, will try and add light to it by making this layer multiply too. I’ll add darkness in the side or corner of the background etc.

NL do the same thing with Add except also make a point for where the light is coming from.

NL, I’ll use a mix of Add and Overlay to add sparkles, fragments, light spots etc depending on image type of need be

Using a Fluffy pastel brush (it’s textured) I also use pure white. This is the only time I ever do.

I’ll add reflection to eyes, jaw and nose. For hair, I’ll pick out a few strands of hair where it’s darker and throw in some loose lines. Clothes are rarely outlined and only where light touch. I use this limitedly.

Ctrl + D ;) to deselect the lasso tool — I don’t usually merge the layers after this because it’s usually too messy and I’m done anyway so I save it, however you CAN put them all in a FOLDER if need be. (I have a few in my vid, the entire thing is in a folder tbh)

Voila! That’s it!

I hope this has been of some help or use! And that this makes SOME sense... I’m absolute shit at explaining everything...

This was incredibly fun to do tho and I spent two hours typing this all! Wow!

Okay thanks for reading! (Hope this helped Melitooooooo, don’t forget the wedding cake ~ v/ important part of marriage you know)

[atvie]

all of the artist ask meme because i can and i love you ;)

ilusm!!!!!!! i’m putting them beneath the cut cause.. Long.

🖍️ when did you start drawing? do you remember?  when i was born????? idk i have a huge memory lapse from a lot of my childhood so! i really don’t know, but i’ve been told i took to it pretty quickly

✏️ do you prefer traditional art or digital to relax?  traditional! but it’s hard cause it’s not as pretty / more stressful when i’m not using lined paper / when i’m using lined paper it makes it harder to upload / i can’t use cool colors (i’m terrified of using colors on real paper……) but!! idk it’s just kind of soothing

📏 what’s your go-to canvas size?  that’s been changing recently.. but either 900x900 or 2500x2580! and then just cropping near the end

☕ do you do warmup sketches before drawing? (bonus: do you have any to share?)  yeah! except they really are just. normal sketches i guess. they’re usually the ones that i end up not finishing even part of the face.. but i generally share All of my art (except the ones i’m really anxious about… see below) so i don’t really have. any to show except for.. uh. here)

🙃 which is easier: faces facing left, right, or front view?  front view?… out of those options. i’m just really bad with noses from the side, but generally i hate doing a perfect front view or side view… i like to kinda play round w it

📚 how many layers do you typically use?  80+? but when i use a bigger canvas it limits me at around 45, so then i start merging the ones im ok with. i just like having a lot so that it’s easier to clean up cause i’m paranoid (but i usually end up merging them a Lot towards the end)

🐻 your go-to things to draw when you need comfort?  people? i don’t really draw for comfort.. at least in the way that i think the question means. i basically only draw people anyway so. yeah. (that’s another thing i’m working on;;)

🎁 do you prefer drawing fandom stuff or your own characters?  my own characters……… but no one’s really interested in them? i mean i know my friends are and some of my mutuals but realistically y’all can’t be invested in them as much until i release the actual story? (or like with you, rubi, where you’ve met them through rp smgksd) so it’s kinda been .. boring? because i like showing them to people to make people happy and when it’s my character it really is just For Me. like…. a lot of the things i draw are for me, but often i think of ‘oh x mutual might like it if i drew their favorite character’ even if i don’t tag them in it……. but then, those are usually the ones i don’t post, because my standards raise hugely when it’s For someone. (like with you! i’ve drawn a lot of kaya, but it’s never Enough for me, so i only end up posting any of them for my own art progress.) also my friends’ ocs. but again it makes me p anxious

🌈 do you use more warm or cold colors?  warm!!!! cold colors scare me SMDGJS… even when i use cold colors i tend to use warm undertones (is that the word? idk)

🎼 your favorite music to draw to right now?  i have a playlist!! um but usually i like drawing best to bastille.. 21 pilots (yes i unironically like them), khalid!!!!!!, my chemical romance, AJR, marshmellow, alan walker, coldplay(?) and imagine dragons! just the kind of. mystical soothing tone? it’s hard for me to describe but it’s really good for background for me!! oh and lizzo, pentatonix & the greatest showman’s soundtrack are fun to draw to!!

🙌 draw a doodle with your non-dominant hand  i regret everything

📐 whats your favorite kinds of lines to draw?  i literally have. no idea what this means sry? fsdkfdf

💐 do your drawing suit your aesthetics?  no :/

🦋 do your drawings resemble you?  no..? not really i mean.., i’ve done self-portraits sometimes, but even then those are more.. my idealized self? cause atm i’m really….. self-conscious i guess,, so i don’t like looking at myself much To draw..

��� how often do you draw?  whenever i can!!!!!!!!!! i doodle all of the time! though, recently i haven’t had paper to access, so i’ve brought my tablet around & drew on it!! it’s a lot easier to

🌗 is night or day better for drawing?  mmmm.,,, not really either? just whenever i feel like it, which is basically all of the time. nighttime is often worse though just cause i’m more tired / it’s harder to see

🍭 what’s your main art blog / what do you tag your art with?  this is it! and i usually tag it with ….. the most-used name of the character. other than that, i’m unreliable ;;; i try to do the fandom too um but i don’t have any specific tags? come to think of it .. i should probably make a tag for all of my art to go under…. but also i don’t want to look at my old art, even to add tags to the posts mkfsdjg 😔

🍀 you wish your art was more..(fill in the blank)  good???? sgsjdf i just really look up to a lot of artists (a lot of whom are my friends) and so it’s just. idk. i guess i wish my art was more well-rounded. like.. i’m getting good at faces and such through practice, but i don’t have .. basically any experience with backgrounds / animals / things like that. so it’d be nice to be able to draw what i imagine without problems.

🌊 what’s the hardest thing for you to draw?  animals, because i tend to make them hyperrealistic which doesn’t merge with the rest of the piece(s). ;;

🙊 share your latest silly doodle with no context

[artemis-entreri]

Hey! How are you? I hope you and yours is doing well. How is one of my favorite assassinos? Doing any better? Don't let anything stop you can do anything you put your mind too. I have been thinking of going into digital art trying to do realistic fantasy art but I don't know where to begin. Any advice how to get started and want to buy? Cheers ~Buck

[[ Hi Buck, great to hear from you! Thanks for checking on me! :D

My year was off to a really rough start and things were shitty for a while but I think I’m finally on the upswing. I made the decision to cut out some negativity from my life and that’s taken a weight off my shoulders, but there’s still a long way to go for full recovery. I’m hanging in there though and doing my best to keep moving forward.

That’s awesome that you’re getting into digital art! :D I don’t know too much about your art background, but before I delve into the digital aspect of things, my biggest piece of advice is to not neglect the traditional approach. In many ways, digital art is definitely easier than traditional art, and a heck of a lot more forgiving. It’s also really easy to pick up and retain a lot of bad habits with digital art, even for people experienced with traditional art. A lot of professionals will tell you to still practice traditional, and there’s a good reason for it. Mastery of art is something that happens regardless of medium, and it’s definitely possible for a certain medium to ruin, or at the very least, preclude you from mastering it properly.

 As far as what to buy to do digital art, you’ll need a drawing tablet and a software to draw in. I personally prefer a tablet with a lot of space, but some people work just fine with a smaller tablet. As a general rule, the larger the tablet, the more expensive it is, but you don’t need a current gen state-of-the-art tablet to get started. Heck, I’m still using a tablet I’d bought that was already discontinued the year I’d bought it, and it works just great. As for drawing software, I do use Photoshop, but I’m fortunate enough to know people who work for Adobe and so I don’t have to pay the >$1000 for the software. Photoshop is great, but it wasn’t designed with digital painting in mind. It’s probably the best photo-editing software out there, and it’s a great painting software, but you’d do just fine with much more affordable options like Clip Studio Paint. I haven’t tried any of these other ones but professional artists work in them and even prefer them to Photoshop. 

More important than the kind of tablet and software you use is your fundamentals, especially if you want to do anything realistic. Or heck, anything at all. An important thing to remember in art is that you need to know the rules before breaking them. So many “artists” use “style” as an excuse for a poor understanding of basics such as anatomy, and that’s really painful to see. Studying basics can be tedious and not fun, but it’s very necessary. Thankfully, there are great resources on the internet now that’ll walk you through the basics. My favorite resource is the engaging and clear Proko, who has tons of free videos in addition to his premium courses.

Keep in mind that I’m far, far, far from a professional, and everything I’m telling you is from the perspective of a fellow student. I’d love to talk about art more with you though, and I’m always looking for others with whom I can mutually motivate to keep practicing. If you use Discord, you can find me through the community server (I don’t want to post my userID publicly because bots XD). 

As for Artemis, I guess he’s doing better than me, despite his treatment in the novels. I’ve been planning to take up RPing regularly again, so there’s that.

I hope you’re doing well. Take care of yourself. ]]

[bleedingcoffee42]

Eureka AU- Part 8

My weekend mini-nano is coming to an end, what a ride. 16k words on a make-it-up-as-i-go fic. Fun as hell, wish I could do this every day.   But for now, outta writing time.   Fear not, I’ll finish this week but I’ll sure as shit leave it for now as a cliffhanger.

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7

xxxxxxxxxx

Roy sat by Riza's side after Knox relocated her to Al's lab under much protest, however the medical equipment was easier to move than Al's.   Roy went over all the theories and data about a dozen times and eventually gave the green light on Project Hawk's Eye.   He told Knox he would be the one to inject the syringe full of nanites into her IV, that was not going to be on the doctor if this all went wrong.

If he lost her, he didn't really care about the repercussions of everything coming down on him.   He'd stave it off as long as he could in order to go after Raven and root out his accomplices in this theft of relics and trail of murder, but he had no misconceptions about it all catching up to him.   He'd step down from the head of the facility first, have someone appointed to take his place that had it's best interests in mind, and spend his money and limited freedom on hunting everyone down.   He prayed it don't come to that.

“We're ready.”  Al said.   “I injected a few into myself to test it and they are operating as they should.”

“What the fuck Al?”  Ed gasped.  

“Like you weren't going to do the same thing.”  Al mumbled.

“I'm not the genius who can control the little bastards!”

“Which is exactly why I had to do it.”  Al replied. “They're my creation, I can't ask someone to test out what I create if I am not willing to do so myself. Especially not Hawkeye.”

Ed walked over with the syringe and handed it to Mustang.   He almost didn't want to let go of it, scared it would be the cause of her demise.   Scared because if it didn't kill her, the lack of another option would.

“It's OK Ed.”  Roy said and took the syringe over to the IV line and paused as he took the cap off the needle.   He looked over at Riza and bit his lip.   Not the kind of shot she expected to be in danger of dying from, he was certain of that.   So he stopped costing more time and injected it slowly so there was no chance of clumping the microscopic robots anywhere.   Then, syringe empty, he retracted it and put the cap back on and set it down to wait;  Wait and watch her vitals for a spike to tell him this was the wrong answer.

“Ok, I have data.”

Roy looked over to Al.  “And?”

“I've sent them on a mission to disperse and target anything with their similar profile.  I already have data coming back.”   Al said and put it up on the screen for everyone to see.   “Well the good news is it's biological and not nanotech.”

Roy took a deep breath.  The Elrics were great at mentioning things after the fact.

“Money can't buy you, Al.”  Ed said appreciatively.  “You're the only one this good.”

Marcoh waved his hand at the screen. “Can you send this information to my tablet?”

“Already on it's way.”  Al said.   “I have them targeting and following the virus.   That way we don't waste time when you give me the modifications.”

Roy sat down beside Riza and held her hand again.   No change was good news at this stage and he could feel Knox hovering and waiting for something to happen.   Marcoh was scribbling loudly on some paper, preferring to work out things the 'old school' way instead of taking advantage of all the technological advances around him.   Roy wanted to help, wanted to be able to use his knowledge and education for something but he couldn't help here. All he could do was physically be here and comfort his wife in a way he hoped she could feel, perhaps there was something to that joke of theirs about using him for his body after all.

He turned his attention to thinking about how much Riza had changed his life.   They got off on the wrong foot and they continued to meet in the middle on everything, mainly because she wouldn't get out of his way.   She blocked him every time and forced him to compromise.   The resolution always produced good results and finally he came to her with a peace offering of dinner.   The town needed her, she was someone he had grown to respect and in a few months of fighting with her he had to admit he looked forward to her barging into his office telling him off.

He never expected her to say 'yes'.   It was just his charismatic womanizing facade coming out and trying to charm her, but she had said 'yes' in the most hostile and satisfied way possible that made him question if he had in fact been played.   He owed her dinner for all the times she had to spend time off duty cleaning up his scientist's mistakes.     It better be expensive too.  He countered the best he could, saying and expensive dinner require proper attire and a dress uniform wasn't going to cut it.   And her smile, god she smiled like she was the Queen of Hearts and he was about to get decapitated.  At that moment he sat back in his chair and realized that it might not be so horrible to lose this chess match of theirs after all.  

When she did show up for that promised dinner at his house, insisting on picking him up because he was a terrible driver who never paid his reckless driving tickets, he opened the door to the most amazing sight he had ever laid eyes on.   Riza Hawkeye stood on his doorstep like an angel, setting sun behind her with a glow of the glory of God radiating in the background.   A long gown that looked like it was made for her and probably was.   She had made friends in Eureka, certainly someone like Alex Armstrong had told her he would make her the perfect dress to stop Roy's fucking heart as soon as he laid eyes on it.

And that it did.   However it was less the dress and more the woman wearing it.   Something about how she owned that presence and could be wrapped in satin and lace and not lose herself in any of it.   There was more to her than he gave her credit for, more than the hard ass Lieutenant who became their disciplinarian Sheriff.   More than the soldier who was quick to order everyone around when the situation went to hell.  More that he desperately wanted to find out about.   It was more than she bargained for because she was not expecting him to be the one cooking her dinner at his house.

Checkmate.

It didn't phase her, she entered his house as if it was a royal palace and not a suburban home.   He had his best tux on, carefully planned and cooked four courses and dessert and served them all by candlelight in his dining room.  There was no hostility as they both silently agreed to a truce for the night.   They talked about work, since that was always the adventure of the week, and accidents they could now laugh about.  

And she had the most incredible laugh.  

Night turned into morning as they relaxed on the couch and dared to show each other their personal side.    Her caring for the men of her command, how much she missed being in the field because of this special assignment and how much she was actually enjoying being the Sheriff of this small town.  The people were special, she liked having someone to protect.   He admitted he wanted to do anything to keep this town safe, to keep the people free to work and funded to do so.   Something he never openly admitted to anyone.   She eventually said it was getting too late and it was time to leave, he asked her to stay.   To his surprise, she accepted his offer.

He wondered why she accepted any offers of his,  especially the first one to take the job as Sheriff of Eureka.

Now he couldn't help but wonder if she was deliberately sent here by her commander to get her away from her men.   Exiled because she had seen too much and had too much integrity to just forget it happened.    There was no reason that a qualified officer like herself would be sent here to the middle of nowhere to babysit scientist unless she was someone who could be counted on to be in his pocket.   She'd never be that, not for Raven.  Exiled until he had a chance to figure out how to erase the evidence of his actions.

But Roy had been the one to pick her from a field of candidates.   That was what bothered him, Raven had to know what he was looking for in a choice for Sheriff.  He had to rig the choices so there was only one option.  Roy wanted to drive down to the Hotel right now and beat the truth out of him, beat the life out of him.   Ensure he didn't get away with this.  

“I have it.” Marcoh announced. He walked over to Al's computer and said, “Bring up the diagram. I'll show you want to rearrange.   Then you can program them to eat the other virus.”

“They're robots.” Al replied.  “They don't eat.”

“They just ate several billion dollars worth of military super soldier contact lens.” Ed reminded him.  “Just let them tear it apart.”

“And lose their form?  They're currently bonded as a virus.   You want me to release them and let them float in the bloodstream?   They're too tiny.” Al replied.

“Strangle the virus then.”  Ed said.  

“Supreme excellence consists of breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.” Roy said, quoting Sun Tzu.   Everyone went silent, he must have sounded authoritative even if he felt lost.   “Make your nanites more attractive to the virus than the cells it's attacking.  Make it look like the original Xerses virus instead of the watered down immunity in her system.     Let them latch on to the nanites so we can tell the robots to leave her body and take the virus with them.   Riza can't be the battlefield, she's put up enough of a fight on her own.  Let's draw the enemy out.”

[elsa12tmnt]

THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A SURPRISE BUT I COULD NOT WAIT OMG SORRY

Yay! My second speedpaint! I've improved and learned a LOT since then, wow! It's amazing how I've picked it up! I mean, I pick everything up quickly, tbh, but... wow.

Doing this one was way, WAY easier than the first time, even though OBS kept shutting down on me randomly. The first recording program I used was Screencast-O-Matic, free version. It would stop me in the middle of drawing after 15 minutes and then I would have to wait a full ten minutes (or longer) for the video to save onto my computer. Getting the pieces all together was such a struggle too. I had to use one website to speed it up, another to put them together, then speed that up again, ugh. When one of the clips suddenly wasn't compatible with the speeding up program I had to use a free trial of Camtasia, otherwise, I wouldn't get the speed paint out. Not to mention that, because I still had a lot to learn about digital art, I had to erase shading outside the lines, which did not work as well as it needed to. I owe my very SOUL to @thegeminisage for explaining clipping to me; it would've saved me during making this drawing, not to mention I use it obsessively to do all my shading now. She also explained layer modes, specifically, Multiply and Add, which I also use to an unhealthy extent.

Quick thing I want to mention: I know that that picture is called "Frisk and Char Char", and this new one is called "Arcade bot", and the titles are weird and stupid. The truth is that the file names of drawings really stick with me. In my brain actually, the name of the new speed paint is "Console Games" (but Arcade Bot sounded much more appropriate) so please, ignore that.

Console Games was super fun to work on and draw. Coloring Arcadebot was awesome and Nightbot honestly looks amazing. Learning to use the 3D perspective snap paid off in the end (this was my first time using it), and drawing the art on EndlessSans was fun too. Even putting screenshots on the consoles was enjoyable. Text, gradients... I adored doing everything, to be honest.

Because I have issues I'm gonna list techniques/features that I used:

Free Transform

Gradient

Extract Lineart

AntiAliasing (which I used in specific areas only)

Layer Modes

Text tool

Text drawing trick

3D perspective and curve snaps

Clipping and Mesh Transform for shading

Airbrush shading

Glowing screen trick

I used the fill tool a lot, not to be confused with the bucket

Resizing the canvas, and I guess Transform.

Pen and Polygon select!

Flat shading.

Opacity of course!

Glowing layer mode trick (Another one I learned from @thegeminisage )

Wow! I've learned a lot! A LOT!

The date that this speed paint was made was ‎Wednesday, ‎March ‎15, ‎2017, ‏‎5:44:02 AM (goodness, that's early). That's... (counts) four months ago! Wow! Has it really been that long ago?

My first piece of digital art on FireAlpaca apparently was made ‎Tuesday, ‎February ‎21, ‎2017, ‏‎11:13:36 PM, and my first MS Paint art and digital art was... Wednesday, ‎February ‎22, ‎2017, ‏‎4:43:01 PM? I swear it came first! Oh well.

Point being, I've been making digital art for five months and really like where I am! You know how people say you should try something before you invest too much money and time into it? Well, I think 5 months is a far enough trial for me to decide if I like doing it. My answer: definitely! Although, sketching and line art with a mouse is not as fun, especially since usually you do them one after the other. :/ But, if I were to get a drawing tablet, that would totally change around, I know that for certain. The things that motivated to try digital art in the first place were the transform tools for use in sketching and the erase/undo options for use in line art. DUDE. YES. I need to get a grip on that $$$$ $$$ stuff, otherwise, I'll be stuck with a mouse forever.

Anyway, congrats for reading all the way if you did! Hope you'll be around for other art I do! I want to do a comic and an animation, but neither project is gonna get started without a drawing tablet; the farthest I can go for those are thumbnails. Not to mention I have to know how to DRAW the things I want to draw, namely, the Inside Out characters, the Undertale characters and their designs for the comic, and Inside Out backgrounds, plus writing the damn story. Now that I got the copy of Inside Out in my hands and I've downloaded the Undertale Text Project (link) I should have all the reference in the world for that. Anyway, <3 to all!

(LIZ, THE PROGRAM I USED FOR THIS IS TOTALLY FREE! I DECIDED TO SPARE YOU THE EXPERIMENTING AND MADE THIS LITTLE VIDEO FOR YOU ON HOW TO DO IT!)

Tagging anyone who I think would want to see it: @archieblizz @youngbenkenobi   @nxsuper These were the boxes I was talking about. @xjunjox This is what I was working on during the stream! @violetmoon123  I HATE NOT HAVING CORALIE’S USERNAME THERE FOR TAGGING I NEED TO FOLLOW HER LIZ GIVE ME HER TUMBLR AND I NEED TO SEEE THE GOOD ART ANYWAY AND I’M PROBABLY GONNA LIKE IT ANYWAY SO THERE.)

SURPRISE!

[snowfragrance]

California 2017 trip review

I’m back from a vacation in CA! As usual, just going to review the attractions, foods, and accommodations. The main areas will be Anime Expo 2017, downtown LA, and Venice Beach/Santa Monica. First up, Anime Expo...this will be long.

Anime Expo (AX)

This anime con is the biggest in the US. According to their website, this year the attendance for Anime Expo reached 115,726 with all the special shows. Originally, when my peeps were planning CA trip, AX was considered but not set in stone. But then I grabbed discounted 4 day tickets during Black Friday and that’s how we planned our stay in CA. I had decided to not cosplay and enjoy my time at the con but I saw that the weather was in the 70s-80s with no humidity so I packed 2B and wore her for Day 1 and 4.

The Good:

Everything about the Exhibit Hall was amazing. Since it is the biggest con, all the well-known names of anime/video games (Viz, Bandai, Crunchyroll, Blizzard, etc) are there to promote new shows/games, sell official merchandise, sign autographs, and give out freebies (my sister was constantly eating free samples of shrimp chips lol). And so much merch! The guidebook had 5 pages of all the sellers and the entire room took a good 3-4 hours to explore. I usually don’t spend a lot of money buying merch cause I could find cheaper prices online but I left with an empty wallet. There were so many things that you cannot find in the US. The layout of the room is very organized with each booth having a number and ceiling signs above the sections that show the number of each section.  

The artist alley was also massive! Lots of pretty art and I finally picked up a print from an artist that I had been eyeing for a while. Her booth was very popular lol. It took almost 20 minutes to reach her to buy a print. Traffic basically stopped. I was hoping to find more subtle anime prints…like a print with traditional ink calligraphy-ish style for LoL which didn’t happen. I didn’t have enough time to comb through everyone’s booth since I was spending a lot of time in the exhibit hall.

The entertainment hall had the itasha cars, arcade games, and the background sets for pictures. There was also an area that tested out a new tablet thing that made drawing digitally super easy. We also had fun in the background sets.

Badge pickup was ridiculously fast. They started pickup on day -1(?) and 0. It took minutes with no lines.

The guidebook’s map is the best thing ever. It’s organized and easier to read than the map on the app. The staff and volunteers are very helpful and well informed so we didn’t get lost that much. We still did but it wasn’t too much considering it was our first time and the convention center was massive. It’s also really nice how there are always an escalator around because I’m lazy and my vision was impaired when I was cosplaying.

AX provided a free shuttle to transport people to hotels and to the convention center. Using it was confusing and frustrating but it was nice that they had that as an option. Our hostel was only 20 minutes away with walking but catching the shuttle saved us time and energy.

The people who ran the AMV panels were really great. They knew their stuff and kept us entertained. There was no technical difficulties and all the programs started and ended on time.

The cosplays were really why I go to cons. It’s always amazing to see all the details and effort that goes into the costumes! And we were getting all the steps in from running after them! There were so many impressive ones. I’ve noticed a lot of Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid, FFXV, Overwatch, BnHA, Love Live!, Haikyuu, and very surprisingly Yugioh and Berserk were popular. I was expecting more AoT with S2 out or SAO since that’s like the go to cosplay for couples for some reason. There was also not a lot of Doctor Who, Supernatural, Marvel, and DC…I always see a couple of doctors running around in the eastern cons. Also, I saw no dancing which was unusual. In previous cons, there’s always someone who will have a dance battle or sing Disney songs while waiting in line.

The Bad:

The AX app was useless. It was ok to get new updates and to see changes but the map was difficult to navigate. The schedule shows only what the room was called and not where it was located. It would be better to know the actual room number so you know where to find it. I already know it’s a workshop because of the icon near the name so I don’t need to see the room as workshop1…I rather have it as room 404 so that I know I have to go to the 4th floor. Some panels had no summary so I had no idea if I wanted to go.

The bag checks in Day 1 needed to be expanded. Day 1 had a lot of people so it would make sense to have more entrance points. There were only a couple of bag checks so the line was behind and way past the convention center and continued to be long even after the sun was setting. I was kinda dying in my 2B cosplay. Everytime you leave the convention center, you have to go back through bag check. And all the cosplay meetups are held outside. So I noped out on my Nier meetup. And by the time I got settled and stopped oozing everywhere, most of the halls were closing and I missed all the panels I wanted to see. We also decided to have snacks for lunch because all the delicious and decently priced food trucks were outside of the convention center…and no one wanted to wait in line to enter the convention center again.

And speaking of lines, all the lines for normal ticket holders are outside. It’s really annoying to find the lines. I wish they could have the lines inside the building with a staff keeping tabs on how many seats are left. That way, no one gets a heat stroke and lines are easier to find cause it next to the room. The staff can turn away people once the capacity is reached so those people can do other things and not waste their time. It’ll also reduce traffic inside the building. Those who paid more for premium badges get to cut in line which makes attending workshops really difficult. We tried to go to a polymer class only to find all the seats were gone. And apparently, you must sit in a chair to view the panel/workshop. You cannot be standing or hanging out by the door. I don’t really know why this is a rule since it makes no sense

The shuttle location was moved after Day 1 to prevent clogging traffic around the convention center. We went to the new location and boarded without issues. However on the next day, we went to the new location again and found no shuttles even though the service should run 24/7. We called the info desk and got the same directions. We were at the new location but after that we could not find the shuttles again. There had been no other changes regarding location. It was super frustrating.

AX had ticketed events where you have to pay extra to go to. I don’t really care for the concerts or cafes but I was kinda interested in the masquerade. That started at $5 for horrible seats. I know they needed the money to give out cash prizes to the winners but I wasn’t going to be spending a lot of money for good seats.

I wanted to go the Miku 10th Anniversary (oh god, it’s been that long?!) dance but I didn’t do that either. We got in line and had a pretty good spot but then staff came around to tell us that large bags had to be checked and stored away. It seemed like we had to buy a locker for the bags. We had gotten free bags from the exhibit hall so we would have to get those checked and lose our spot. By then, the line already was wrapping around. Ugh, like you could have warned us sooner or have that requirement posted under the dance in the website, app, and/or the event sign by the door. We were waiting for almost an hour before being told this which wasn’t long by con standards but it was still wasted time. Literally everyone had those free bags and after that announcement, it was a mess.

Overall, it was fun and it’ll be my first and probably last AX. My local cons are just as good though I’m going to miss that exhibit hall with all the freebies and merch. I wished I could find something from QZGS but no luck. Here is a pic of my peeps and all my loot.

[pharaohsparklefists]

Darkside of Dimensions Review

Since I’ve seen it twice now and gotten a few asks, I figured I’d share my thoughts on the new Yu-Gi-Oh! movie with ye.

Spoiler-free summary: I really enjoyed this movie, especially Kaiba’s and Yugi’s characterisation, but the duels dragged. The antagonist was an interesting person but an uninteresting duelist so the big duels against him were repetitive and lacking flair. The animation was mostly gorgeous but did suffer from “eh that character is in the background in this shot, it’s fine if they’re just a misshapen blob” syndrome. The plot made as much sense as YGO ever does: it’s supposed to be in manga canon but there are still inconsistencies and the plot could have used more structure. It’s definitely only welcoming to people who already like YGO, I can’t imagine getting much out of it if you’re not a YGO fan! But if you are, it’s excellent fun!

Now for details!

So the plot, if you haven’t seen it but are interested, is as follows: Kaiba is so upset that the Pharaoh / Atem / Other Yugi is gone that he’s trying everything to bring him back, including creating a near-flawless holographic replica to duel, excavating the pit the Millennium Items fell into to find the Puzzle, and, for some reason, building a space station that is reached by SPACE ELEVATOR which is literally the most ridiculous thing he’s ever done and this is Seto fuckin Kaiba we’re talking about here. However, a group of magical teleporting children have been granted the power to reshape the world into a peaceful Utopia, via a magic cube. This power will be lost if the Pharaoh should happen to be resurrected by any grief-stricken, obsessive teenage billionaires, so they’re keeping a close watch. Meanwhile, their leader, Diva, wants to take revenge on Ryou Bakura because he blames Ryou for the death of their mentor, who turns out to have been Shaadi, of all people. Calling himself Aigami, he inserts himself into Domino High, but has to take time away from his plot to confront Kaiba, who has found the Millennium Puzzle, in pieces. Diva/Aigami fails to prevent him from taking the Puzzle, but does manage to steal back two pieces, one of which he entrusts to his younger sister who immediately gives it to Yugi. Kaiba challenges both Diva and Yugi to a DUEL MONSTERS DUEL SHOWCASE TOURNAMENT, ostensibly to launch his BRAND NEW DUEL DISK SYSTEM but actually to get the pieces of the Puzzle back so he can resurrect the Pharaoh. Yugi tries to explain that the Pharaoh has moved on but Kaiba point-blank refuses to listen. Meanwhile, Diva has evaporated Ryou with his magic cube. Yugi duels Diva and wins, rescuing Ryou from ... wherever it was that he went, and banishing Diva to some kind of sand dimension. Then Kaiba and Yugi duel, but at the last moment, their duel is interrupted and they have to team up to take down ... Diva again, but like, now he’s a lizard and possibly Yami Bakura is possessing him?? Kaiba sacrifices himself for Yugi to have a chance to continue the duel, but Yugi is at the point of passing out, when Atem launches himself back into reality to help Yugi draw and play his last card, winning the duel. Atem and Yugi silently say goodbye one more time, then Atem leaves. Yugi et al graduate from high school, while a delighted Kaiba takes Diva’s magic cube and uses it to visit Atem in whatever dimension Atem exists in now, thereby proving wrong everyone who tried to tell Kaiba to maybe have some chill.

The more I think about the plot, the less sense it makes. It suffers from a typical Late Addition To A Series problem, in that, the if this shit is so important, why didn’t it ever come up during the series? If Shaadi was so invested in his cult of adorable children, why didn’t he ever visit them as a ghost or mention them to the Pharaoh? If the Pharaoh’s existence is so tied to this all-powerful world-altering magic, why didn’t he know about it? If Ishizu and Marik held the secrets of the ancient tablet, why didn’t they mention that shortly after the fated duel between Atem and Yugi, some earnest orphans would be teleporting around to literally destroy everything and remake the world into a Utopia? The Shaadi part especially doesn’t seem to make sense. Especially because the Eye is already missing. 

But anyway. The real story is Kaiba’s obsessive need to duel the Pharaoh one more time, and I really enjoyed how his character was handled. I was worried that this angry, upset Kaiba would have walked back his character growth, but he hasn’t. He’s newly angry and upset, and he’s being a dick, but it’s definitely a post-Battle-City Kaiba on screen, one who’s learned from his relationship with Atem. Despite how raw and angry he is, he listens to Yugi, treats Yugi with respect, and is not only willing to cooperate against a dangerous foe, he’s actually the one who suggests it! 

He’s pretty obviously experiencing grief and not really knowing how to deal with it, since he never explicitly named what Atem was to him; he can only admit that Atem was a rival, so he’s channelled all his energy into the idea that if he could just duel him one more time, he could feel better. But his language is all over the place. He’s obviously angry at Atem for leaving: having repeatedly said that Atem was his worthy rival, he now spits at the hologram!Atem that he was never worthy. Sure Kaiba, he’s so unworthy of you that you spend every waking minute and an unimaginable amount of money trying to see him again. He tells himself he bears painful scars of defeat, but then says that if he could duel him one more time, the pain could be made easier to bear. Surely if the pain is just from losing, then winning would erase the pain? But if the pain is from losing someone you care about, then getting to say goodbye wouldn’t erase the pain, it would just make it easier to bear. When he speaks to Yugi, he identifies them as feeling the same way: he tries to get Yugi to admit “you want to see him too”. As the movie goes on, it becomes more and more obvious that this is about more than a duel, this is about Kaiba feeling loss and grief and needing closure. His feelings and Yugi’s feelings are compared repeatedly. Yugi said goodbye and got closure, he misses Atem “all the time”, but he’s able to move on, he talks about his hopes for the future with his friends. Kaiba didn’t, and isn’t, he has abandoned all his trademark talk of the future and replaced it with grandstanding about how he, Seto Kaiba, can do ANYTHING, because that’s what he needs to believe. He needs to believe he can do the impossible because he needs to do it to see Atem again.

Aside from the fact that he risks everything at the end of the movie to transcend dimensions and the veil of death itself to go and see Atem, he also willingly lays down his life in the final duel, and when Yugi asks why, he says “For him. The Pharaoh.” I mean T______T holy gay subtext, Batman

Also apparently he spent a long time recreating Atem’s “perfectly coiffed hair”, which, let me tell you, Atem’s hair is many things, but you definitely have to be madly in love with him to describe it in flattering terms.

But you know, the thing that made me really hopeful for Kaiba was that, near the end, after Atem had said goodbye to Yugi and left after his brief visit, Kaiba came up and I expected him to freak out: he spent the WHOLE MOVIE trying to see Atem and here Atem had visited but not stuck around to say hi to Kaiba or give him the duel he so vociferously claims he needs, and I thought Kaiba would be furious ... but instead, after a whole movie of snapping and bragging and firing people and being ruthlessly sarcastic, he was finally cheerful. He was smiling. He said “I told you so” but really happily. He wished Yugi and his friends well! The confirmation that Atem was out there somewhere, waiting for Kaiba to find him, was all Kaiba needed to cheer up.

And when Kaiba did show up in Atem’s throne room, Atem’s smile was so warm and sweet! I wonder how much he knew of what was going on - enough to know he needed to show up, obviously. He’s obviously very fond of Kaiba, I’d love to see more of how he felt about leaving without getting to say goodbye. Judging by how pleased he was that Kaiba showed up, he must have been sad. But probably coped better with it. Still, it’s hard to rag on Kaiba’s outrageously unhealthy coping mechanisms when he actually fucking did the thing and somehow wrestled a happy ending for himself from the universe out of sheer stubbornness.

Incidentally, I think the dimension-hopping pod and suit and all was all just for show. It seems the cube works based on willpower - I think Kaiba just needed the tech in place to make himself feel better about using magic. Like, now there’s a spaceship involved it’s clearly Science and not magic. But actually it would have worked just as well if he’d just willed it.

Really, my only major problem with this movie is that the duels against Diva were AWFUL. Especially because Kaiba seems to have given up on everything except dragons in his deck. hologram!Yami vs Kaiba was good fun, and so was Yugi vs Kaiba, but Kaiba vs Diva was hell.

Kaiba: SAY HELLO TO MY BLUE EYES MAXIMUM AWESOME DRAGON

Diva: I SUMMON VJAM, AND THEN ANOTHER VJAM, AND THEN THEY COMBINE INTO GREAT GOOGLY MOOGLY KING GLORBINFLORBIN AND THEN UN-COMBINE (that’s a word) BACK INTO THREE VJAMS

Kaiba: yeah well, I SUMMON  BLUER EYES EVEN MORE DRAGON, PLUS TWO B-LIST DRAGONS

Diva: MY VJAMS COMBINE INTO EYELORD CUBEMEISTER THE FOURTH THEN ATTACK 27 TIMES THEN I SUMMON ANOTHER VJAM AND THEN ANOTHER VJAM AND THEN THEY ALL ATTACK AND THEN I PLAY THREE MORE CARDS AND END WITH THREE VJAMS ON THE FIELD LIKE ALWAYS NO I’M NOT CHEATING

Kaiba: COME FORTH BLUEST EYES YETANOTHER DRAGON!!!1!

me: kill me

But aside from that and the travesty of a wasted opportunity to combine two hot anime men (srsly who looks at Diva and Yami Bakura and decides that a mixture of them should be a lizard in a cheap wig?), it was an extremely enjoyable movie. I can’t wait to get a DVD so I can recap it! I’m not sure if I want to recap as soon as I get it, or wait til I reach a natural break-point... I guess I’ll see where I am when the DVD is released!

[davidegbert]

Microsoft added random rainbow circles to Outlook Mail and they’re terrible

Okay, alright, I apologize for the harsh headline. Random rainbow circles in your email isn’t going to cause a global nuclear war, but it is going to reduce your productivity if you use email as a business tool (and if you don’t, you should be.)  If you’re using Windows 10 on a desktop/laptop/tablet or Windows 10 Mobile on a smartphone, you may have noticed on March 3rd the Outlook Mail and Calendar apps were updated.  Now your email listing has a randomly colored circle next to the person’s name for each message and the user’s initials are inside the circle.  The bright colors draw your eye to the meaningless letters as if they were the most important thing in the world.  Naturally some colors are more eye-catching than others, so your eye is going to be drawn to those more and since the colors are applied randomly, Outlook Mail is probably going to draw your attention to email and initials that really aren’t important at all.

Why is “DR” now the most important element in my email?

In the above screenshot you can see the letters “DR” are now the most important visual element in the listing.  That’s not how it should be.  By default, the most important thing should be overdue flags, then the person’s name, then the unread status.  The flags are so faint in this design that it’s very difficult to see the actually important emails.

Android probably started this nonsense.

These random rainbow circles may look familiar if you have an Android phone. The Gmail app has them all over the place, but thankfully there is an off switch in that app.  The Android version of Outlook (which used to be a 3rd party email app) also has the random rainbow circles in email.  Bringing that to Windows 10 was probably an attempt at consistency, but it’s still bad design… and it’s especially bad design for a mobile phone where screen space is much more limited.  It’s actually pretty surprising that Microsoft brought this idea over to Windows 10 from Outlook on Android since it has such a huge amount of negative feedback associated with it already.  The “Remove Avatars” Outlook for Android Uservoice thread is still getting many comments and upvotes after 2 years.

Without the random rainbow color circles, the email listing did appear very boring and bland. However it’s possible to add color in a meaningful way that’s actually useful and contributes to productivity.  Just ask anyone who has used the desktop version of Outlook and its conditional formatting views. Or, you can even look at the new Outlook Calendar app for Windows 10.

Categorized appointments appear color coded in Calendar!

Windows 10’s new Outlook Calendar app actually does use color in a meaningful way.  With the March 3 update, it now syncs categories and their associated colors as you’ve already set up in Exchange Server, Office365, or Outlook.com.  I’ve been using categories to organize and color-code appointments, emails, contacts, tasks, notes, and journals for decades in desktop Outlook and having that in the UWP version of Outlook Calendar is a huge advantage. It allows me to manage the visual hierarchy of my calendar very efficiently!  As you can see in the above screenshot, each color means something different with the brightest color categories being most important. Then the shaded fills denote the free/busy status. After I’ve learned what those colors mean, and I should know since I set them up decades ago, then it’s very easy to see what’s important at a glance.  That’s the opposite of Outlook Mail’s new use of random color circles which often apply a huge amount of visual importance to things that aren’t important at all.

With conditional formatting in Outlook 2016, I can easily visually prioritize emails.

If you’re an x86/x64 full Windows 10 user, the solution is easy… buy and use Outlook 2016 instead. For many decades, Outlook has been the personal information management tool of choice for people that need to get things done.  One of my favorite features is the customizable conditional formatting views. In my personal email account, I’ve set pink and green colors for emails that are the most important, then blue for the next most important, etc.  In my business accounts I have a similar visual hierarchy based on clients and categories.  My overdue flagged emails get a bright red color to make those show up as most important.  My dad has set up his Outlook to make important emails have a very large font so they take up two normal rows and thus are even easier to see.  Outlook’s color coding is a bit more complicated than picking up the category color since a single email could have multiple categories applied. Being able to control the visual hierarchy in my email listing is extremely useful though.  If Outlook Mail for Windows 10 can’t read my custom conditionally formatted views that are synced with Office 365 servers, at least it could read the categories like the Calendar app does. Another option would be to apply colors specified in the People app and default all recipients not in my contact list to an easy-to-ignore transparent default avatar.  Really those avatar circles are unnecessary though and the colors should highlight the person’s actual name.  Putting a big red circle around the letters “DR” doesn’t mean anything, and “DR” could represent any number of people in my contact list. It’s a really poor way of identifying people.

Maybe it’s true that for some people email should be a fun toy sprinkled with rainbow colored Skittles and colorful sunset background photos, but for many it’s a business tool that needs to help us work efficiently.  On smartphones, that need is sorely unfulfilled on all platforms, so there’s a big opportunity for Microsoft to make a really good smartphone version of Outlook targeted towards businesses. Unfortunately, Outlook Mail for Windows 10 Mobile still doesn’t have basic email functionality needs like Draft folder sync or even reply/forward status sync for IMAP.

If you’re using Windows 10 a good place to add your feedback about this is the Feedback Hub here. If you’re an Outlook for Android user, you’ll find lots of feedback here.

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